Dragons of Berk
by girl1213
Summary: Hiccup is a Dragon runt born the island of Berk, where fighting a rival dragon tribe is a way of life. He doesn't have teeth, he can't fly, and he can't breathe fire, yet he fights to prove himself a true dragon. But when he befriends a dragon from the rival tribe, he inadvertently changes the course of his Tribe's future.


Her mate was dead.

Valka knew it when she heard his death roar far behind her, lost somewhere in the mists surrounding the volcano island where they had grown up under the protection of the Dragon Queen before her decent into madness. But she couldn't dare to look back, even as her eyes started to mist with tears and her heart begun to ache. She could only focus on going forward, towards the south-east, where snow and ice were plentiful for most of year, where she had heard of another dragon tribe, one without a king or queen, was located.

For the sake of her unborn child, she had to reach the island, known to dragons as Berk, before the Queen's minions caught up to her. Her mate had bought her time to escape and she could not let his sacrifice be in vain.

She flew on, soon breaking through the mist at long last where the grey-blue ocean and overcast sky could be seen. But just as she registered the change of scenery, she smelled heat and suddenly felt a few degrees warmer and getting even more so with each passing moment.

With a gasp, Valka forced her back fins to unfold themselves to allow herself to fall into a steep but controlled dive just as a jet of fire broke through the mist behind her. The fire grazed one of her tail wing-fins, causing her to cry out in pain. But she continued to fly normally, so the burn was only a graze wound. However, a burn from the fire of a Monstrous Nightmare could last for long time and it felt like agony despite its small size.

Valka forced herself to ignore it and as she flew in close to the ocean water, glancing upward towards her pursuer as she felt spray against her skin.

It was as she feared: the scarlet Monstrous Nightmare was someone she once knew but no longer. Now he was servant of queen, not the friend whom she and her mate played with when they were little dragonlings before they learned how to fly. His golden eyes no longer held the warm glow of dragon who loved to play and show off for the lady Monstrous Nightmares. Now his eyes were dazed, yet the held the look of merciless killer.

Valka looked away and tried to force herself to go faster despite the pain of the burn on her tail fin. As long as she stayed near the water, her former-friend wouldn't be able to get very close to her since water and Monstrous Nightmares do not mix well when Monstrous Nightmares wanted to fight. Water could wipe away their saliva coats, which they needed if they wanted to use their most powerful attack ability, Fire Jacket.

Her former friend growled and firing balls of fire at her.

Valka dodged as quickly as she could. She could tell that he wasn't aiming to kill her, but to hobble her. The queen didn't want her dead, not when she had an egg still within her body. The mother dragon wasn't important, but the egg was. As long as the egg was within her, Valka knew she wouldn't be killed outright, but once it was laid…

The Queen wanted her child, just as she had wanted the child of her best friend, Windwalker.

Valka narrowed her eyes as the thought of Windwalker's adolescent son came into her mind despite the danger she was in.

She would not allow her own child to be used as a tool to enforce the Queen's will. Windwalker's son, who originally was supposed to fulfill that role, proved too mentally strong to fall under her lure.

The Queen had thought due to his young age, Windwalker's son would be susceptible to her hypnotic spell, but she was proven wrong when she devoured Windwalker and his father right in front of him without any just cause. She had thought despair would leave his mind open, but instead it harden the barrier between them.

It was on that day the nest learned that their beloved queen had turned mad. But by then it was too late, all but Valka, her mate, and Windwalker's son, the only remaining Night Furies of the nest, were enthralled by her power.

But the Queen didn't give up on her want for a Night Fury under her control. She forced Valka and her mate to breed under threat of hurting Windwalker's son, who although could now fly and was strong enough to fight for his freedom, refused to leave them, and all the other dragons enslaved by the Queen behind.

The Queen decided that once Valka had laid her egg, it would be taken away from her and the Queen would raise the child herself, allowing the dragonling to imprint on her as its mother, and therefore have its loyalty from the beginning of its hatching. But Valka, her mate, and Windwalker's son feared though that it wouldn't stop there even if the plan succeeded. The Queen's thirst for power could only grow and she would not be satisfied with one Night Fury under her control.

So when Valka confirmed her pregnancy, Windwalker's son begged them to escape the nest while he stayed behind. Her mate argued that they should all go, but Windwalker's son was as stubborn as his mother had been. He argued that one of them had to stay to protect those enslaved and that with him around, the Queen would still have the power of a Night Fury, even if it wasn't under her control.

But the Queen had predicted that Valka and her mate would try to escape and sent their former friends to stop them. Her mate fought despite how much it pained him to turn his teeth, claws and fire on his friends. He fought even as became outnumbered and grew exhausted.

Tears finally fell out of Valka's eyes and got caught it in the wind, trailing behind her like the jetstreams coming off the tips of her wings.

With thoughts of her mate's sacrifice, the loss of her best friend, and the self-less courage of her best friend's son, flowing through her mind, Valka reached an ultimatum.

No matter what, the Queen would not have her baby.

Either she reached Berk…

Or not at all.

Somewhere in the distance, she could hear the course of many sad voices, crooning in synch with one another.

* * *

><p>The Isle of Berk was in mourning.<p>

Valhallarama, the beloved mate of the Berk Tribe's Alpha, Stoick, had finally succumb to wounds sustained in defending the Tribe from a surprise attack with an unknown horde of dragons from the north-west that appeared seemingly out of nowhere during the night not too long ago.

No one understood why they were being attack, only that they did and in the process, many of the dragonlings were killed and eggs had been crushed, including Valhallarama's own clutch of three eggs.

The female violet Thunderdrum had fought hard, using her sonic breath to knock the attackers away from any remaining dragonling or egg near the nests. But so focused on defending the Tribe's nests, she had been vulnerable to an ambush by a Deadly Nadder and a Hideous Zippleback. The Nadder's spikes had pinned one of her wings to the ground, and then the Zippleback's gas surrounded her before the second head had lit it, engulfing the Thunderdrum in flame.

Stoick had used his own sonic breath to put out the fire, but the damage had been done. Valhallarama's whole body was burned, not a single inch of skin had been left untouched; her beautiful violet shade been stripped away and replaced with black and red and charred remains.

Her last days were spent in agony despite all attempts to try and lessen the pain. Stoick had not once left her side. He stayed with her, giving her what comfort he could, despite that even a touch or a faint breeze could be torture for her. When she despaired about failing to protect their eggs, he told her he was proud of her, assuring her despite failing to save their own eggs, she had saved the last five remaining eggs.

With those five, there was still hope for the tribe's survival.

Then finally, after five long pain-filled days, Valhallarama passed away.

Together, the tribe's strongest members carried the remains of Valhallarama to the sea, led by Stoick and followed by the rest of the tribe. They gently lowered the body into the water and watched it sank beneath the waves, for Thunderdrums were born for the sea, or it is the sea that they must return.

Stoick vowed then and there to his remaining tribe members that they would hunt down their attackers and destroy them and their nest as payback for their fallen comrades, mates and offspring. For despite their small numbers, they were strong and hardy and would weather whatever comes their way. In tandem, the dragons roared their agreement.

"But first," he said after making his vow, "Let us sing."

From the depths of his throat, Stoick begun to hum, the sound low and thrumming but could be heard by the whole tribe. The elders joined in, followed by the adult males, then the females, and then the adolescents before the surviving dragonlings, riding on their parents or guardians' backs, for once understanding the situation, added their voices too. Slowly the humming rose in pitch, then one-by-one each dragon opened their mouths and the humming became a steady, sustained wordless vocalization.

A song…

A song full of mourning that could be heard from miles around the Isle of Berk and to the sea where they laid so many of their own to rest. It carried only one message:

The Isle of Berk was in mourning.

But the mourning song was cut off when a loud screech cut through the air.

All at once the song came to screeching stop, as dragons carrying dragonlings made sharp turns back towards Berk in fearful haste. Those remaining flocked to Stoick, looking to him for leadership on what to do, but ready to fight.

Stoick's eyes narrowed as he searched for the cause of the noise. That did not sound like a dragon coming in for attack, rather it sounded in terrible pain, but he could not be sure. The noise was not like any dragon he had ever heard before. Perhaps it was meant to put those who heard it into a false sense of security and lead them straight into an ambush.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something, flying low over the sea. He jerked his whole body around towards its direction.

A lone dragon, small and sleek with body with varying shades of an auburn coloration. Its large wings were shaped similar to a bat and lack any kind of horns he could see from this distance. It was not like any dragon Stoick had seen.

And it was falling.

"Stay here," The Alpha ordered his tribe.

And he was off with a strong beat of his wings, charging towards this dragon in need of help. Ambush or not, he could not abandon anyone in need of his help.

* * *

><p>Valka could no longer see through her tears as pain erupted through her side. She had tried to dodge another one of her pursuer's attack, but at the same time she had to navigate through a treacherous slalom course of jutting sea stacks. She had hoped that traveling through the stacks she could lose her purser, however the Nightmare had followed her in and his fire had grazed her side when she was in a turn to avoid crashing into a stack. He had been aiming for her wing, but she turned just at the right moment.<p>

Valka could no longer keep her wings level as the pain shot through her; it was too much, too unbearable.

She felt her body fall from the air as she let out a loud scream filled with pain as the burn seemed to reach deep into her body.

As she began to spiral towards the ground, instincts born of maternal feelings flared through her mind, she did her best to keep her belly protected, lifting her legs up and wrapping her wings around her body, cocooning into herself. If she was heading for a crash landing as she was sure to, then she was going to do everything she could to be sure her baby suffered as little harm as possible from the impact with either the sea or the rocks, even if it meant breaking her back or her wings or both.

She seemed to fall for hours, but really it could have only been minutes as she had gained altitude before she had entered the sea stacks in order to successfully dodge around them safety. But now it seemed it didn't do her any good in the end, now that she was falling towards the sea at high speed. Valka didn't dare open her eyes as thoughts of failure drifted through her mind.

She couldn't bring her baby to safety and now they were going to die together. Even if it somehow survived the upcoming landing, Valka feared she would not as she picked up more and more speed, the chances of her surviving the impact alive fading rapidly.

"I'm so sorry," Valka murmured, although she wasn't sure who she's apologizing to; her mate for failing to escape or her baby for dragging it to its death before it even had the chance to be born.

But just as suddenly as the fall began, it stopped.

Valka let out a loud "Oof!" as she landed on her uninjured side onto something that defiantly didn't feel like rocks or sea water.

It was firm, but soft, warm, and smelled strongly of sea water and sea plants. When she cracked open one of her eyes, all she could see was blue.

But that was all Valka could register as she passed out from the pain of her burns.

Stoick grunted and dropped a few feet out of the air when the falling dragon dropped onto his back. He beat his wings harder to adjust to the new weight and to keep himself from falling further as he turned away to avoid crashing into the sea stack in front of him.

But before he could check to see who or what exactly he had caught, a Monstrous Nightmare appeared in front of him, bellowing a threatening roar that told Stoick that this dragon wasn't one of his, but rather one of the horde that attacked his tribe only days ago.

"Give up Night Fury, Thunderdrum!" The Monstrous Nightmare growled as his own body began to erupt in flames.

Stoick growled back, "Never!"

So this stranger wanted the dragon on his back…

Over his dead body!

* * *

><p>Under normal circumstances, Gobber would follow Stoick's orders to the letter without question, and not because the Thunderdrum was his Alpha. It was much deeper than that.<p>

Stoick was nest-mate, friend, and brother all in one before he had ever been Alpha. Their bond was deep, forged over years of long hunts for food when times were tough (as they often were on Berk) and battles to defend Berk from its enemies. Stoick respected his decision to not find a mate, and Gobber supported Stoick's relationship with Valhallarama. Stoick had even named Gobber Guardian of his three eggs, a high honor for any Dragon to given guardianship over the Alpha's offspring.

Gobber would lay down his life for Stoick and Stoick for his.

But sometimes…

Sometimes even an Alpha needed to be told that he was in over his head.

And lucky for Gobber, he was the only one qualified to do just that without risking the Alpha's grief-filled wrath upon him.

Valhallarama's loss had hit the whole Tribe hard, but no one was suffering as hard from her loss as Stoick. But even in grief an Alpha is still needed by his Tribe, especially now that a new threat came to island. If Stoick were to fall, especially now, the Tribe would not be able to recover. Spitelout would try, but the purple Monstrous Nightmare was too prone to delusions of grandeur to be the leader the Tribe would need.

And leaderless, they would be destroyed and scattered to the winds if their enemies didn't kill them first or force them to join their own Tribe.

The Berk Tribe needed its' Alpha alive.

So Gobber broke away from the group, roaring at them to not follow him as he headed into the direction where Stoick had flown off.


End file.
